SCREEN-L Archives

March 2000, Week 4

SCREEN-L@LISTSERV.UA.EDU

Options: Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 27 Mar 2000 01:29:28 EST
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (27 lines)
Although this is off-cinema in T.V. land, I've become fascinated with the
depiction of Tony Soprano, the most "zeitgeist" evil hero of our time.
He's the protagonist of the series and we are clearly meant to identify
with some of his more typical suburban problems and malaise, as well as
his groping for greater self-knowledge through psychotherapy.  He can
also be very clever, not just devious but even witty.  However, he is a
villain, as is his wife and his organization, and everything they touch
they eventually destroy.  (Certainly if The Sopranos were on regular
network television, Tony would be smoothed out, and not just in
language.)  His actions are brutal, his treatment of other people is
generally horrendous, he destroys other families to enrich his own, and
his monstrosity is represented by his own grotesquely overweight body.

What I wonder is if this view of him as a villain is shared by the
viewing public.  Is watch The Sopranos like watching Dr. Mabuse or
Scarface (Hawks) where we ultimately don't really mourn for the
protagonist, or is it more like A Clockwork Orange, where the audience
seems to identify with the evil protagonist, due to the fact that Alec is
so much more interesting and alive than anyone else in his world?

Mark Netter
[log in to unmask]

----
Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the
University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu

ATOM RSS1 RSS2